Trail of the Torch
by jseah
Summary: A high school boy, Simon, finds clues of the hidden truth. A story that examines a consequence of Torches disappearing.
1. Prologue

This story only borrows the universe from Shakugan no Shana, and rather  
few of the characters.

This prologue was written at the advice of a more experienced writer than  
me and serves to set the scene of the story. Feel free to skip this if you  
wish.

None of the Original Characters appear after this. Nor do any major plot  
events.

**Important note**: When a Torch disappears, only direct evidence of the  
Torch's existence is destroyed. As shown in a Season 1 episode, a  
disappearing Torch disappears from pictures, but the picture itself does  
not.

* * *

The Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter leapt over the rooftop easily, the  
Rinne's presence shining like a beacon in her senses.

_ There it is! _ She drew her blade in a swift flick of the arm and landed on it,  
blade down. With a wail, the Rinne burst into the characteristic blue flame  
and dissipated.

"You've improved. It only managed to take out one. " The voice came from  
mid-air.

"It was weak," Shana voiced to seemingly no one in particular, "A Torch  
then, as usual. "

The consumed girl reappeared, seemingly no different from before. Her  
expression still held the panic at the bullies rounding on a boy some ways  
in front of her.

"Hmph! Our job is done here. Let's go, Alastor. "

"Yes. "


	2. The Scent Of A Mystery

Simon looked down at the fridge shelves. Why was there chocolate  
in the fridge? He didn't recall wanting to buy chocolate.

"Mom! Did you buy chocolate? Whatever for?"

"No, I didn't buy chocolate. Did you?"

_Did I buy chocolate? I don't remember. But I did go to the grocery. _ Simon  
shrugged, it was getting late for school.

* * *

"Hey Simon, what are you staring off at again?"

He looked up at his friend Thomas. "Ah, that. Something happened  
this morning. "

Thomas looked at him inquisitively. Simon could feel the question  
already. He shrugged, "It's just something out of place. I saw chocolate  
in the fridge that I didn't buy. "

"What?" Thomas laughed and patted him on the back, in a friendly way,  
"Is that it? Your mother must have bought it then. "

"Yeah, I thought so. But she didn't buy chocolate that time. I remember. "

Thomas shrugged and sat down on the seat in front of him. "Why crack  
your head over something as small as this? You've better things to do. "

Simon nodded, reluctantly. But he was sure, he knew what he was doing  
all the time. And he didn't do things like buy chocolate on a whim.

Nevertheless, he wasn't to know that it was only the beginning.

* * *

"It's strange," Simon muttered to himself over lunch.

Floe looked at him concernedly, "You're still worried over the chocolate?"

He shook his head, "No. It's not just that anymore. There's a blank seat  
in class. "

Floe and Thomas looked at the empty chair. "Er… ok, there's always been  
one there. So what's so troubling about it?"

"Remember how our teacher assigned us our seats?" Simon stood up,  
there was definitely something wrong.

"You mean by index number? That was at the start of term right?" Floe  
asked him, hesitantly, not following his logic.

Simon frowned at her, "The problem is staring you in the face, why don't  
you see it? Look, if we were assigned seats one by one according to  
index number, there shouldn't be an empty seat in the middle of class,  
right?"

The two of them looked at him. "I guess so. But what's there to get  
worked up about?" Thomas asked, a little bewildered. They weren't  
completely surprised though. Simon was a stickler for accuracy.  
Everything had to match up or he wasn't satisfied.

"It must have just been a mistake. It's not that big of a fuss, right?"

Simon looked around, still getting the feeling of something not right.  
Slowly, he sat back down. _Looking around is not going to solve this. I need  
more evidence. Two unexplained incidents. It might just be coincidence. _

_Or it might not._

* * *

It was more by luck than by his own observation that the third clue came  
to him. He was still counting the chairs and tables when it happened.

"23 chairs and tables. But we have only 22 classmates," Simon said to  
himself. Behind him, Floe looked at Thomas worriedly. Who merely  
shrugged. There was no stopping Simon.

"Kya!" there was a scream from Floe as the class representative tripped  
over and fell on her. Simon turned around. While returning the class  
register, the representative of the class, Sarah, had fallen over and  
bumped into Floe. Simon bent down and picked up the register that  
landed at his feet as Thomas helped the girls up.

"Are you ok?" Thomas asked. Sarah nodded. She reached out for the  
register but Simon pulled away, still looking at the list.

"What is it, Simon?" Floe put out a hand, taking the register from Simon's  
shaking hands, "Found another one?"

Sarah looked at them curiously, "What's going on? Did I make another  
error?"

Thomas shook his head, what a reputation Simon had. "He's been going  
on about some inconsistencies in the world since this morning," they  
looked at Simon's frown and signature thinking poise, "Maybe he thinks  
there's some sort of conspiracy going on. "

"Ah… ok. Good luck with that then," Sarah took the class register and left.

Floe shook Simon out of his trance. "What is it? How many other titles do  
you want to earn? You're already known for being a perfectionist, Sherlock  
Holmes and a daydreamer. "

Simon smiled, he had a hint. _A puzzle does exist! _ "I got it. There's a trail.  
Something is afoot. "

_After all, they wouldn't have 23 lines in a 22 person class register. And it makes  
no sense that the blank line is the 12th…_

_The exact same index number the non-existent person in the blank seat would  
have. _


	3. Search For A Clue

Simon tapped his chin. The chocolate didn't fit. His instincts told him that  
it was connected to this incident. _But why? How is a bar of chocolate__  
related to a non-existent student? _

A chalk hit his forehead and he swiped at it angrily, trying to concentrate. _  
A ghost? But there's no evidence of the supernatural. _

"Oi! Are you listening?!" The teacher screamed in his face, making Simon  
sit bolt upright.

"Sorry, sir. I was thinking, sir. "

He could hear the laughter going around the class. _The daydreamer's at it  
again? I'll show all of you. This one is big. And I hope I am wrong. Please, let  
me be wrong. _

* * *

After school, Simon grabbed hold of Thomas's shirt as he and Floe walked  
past. They stopped.

"What is it?"

"I need your help," Simon said, the faraway look still in his eyes, "Looking  
for evidence. "

Floe waved a hand in front of him to make sure Simon was listening,  
"Hello? Why do we have to help you? Do it yourself. I don't want to  
involve myself with your crazy theories. "

Simon chewed his lip thoughtfully, "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't involve you  
guys. See ya at the library!" he walked out of the class.

"Geez! That guy, why would we see him at the library? We're going home!"  
Floe complained to no one in particular.

Thomas, paying attention to the exchange, remarked to her, "It worries  
me that he backed down so fast. "

Floe looked at Thomas disbelievingly, "How would you know that? You  
spend too much time around him. " She pouted, feeling a little annoyed.

"It's a guy thing. I think he's just trying not to bother us," Thomas replied.

"Hmm? I'm getting curious. Perhaps we should go see what it is. "

* * *

_All right, our year. Class 2C. Address list. _ Simon ran his finger down the list,  
counting. Ignoring the rattling door, he ran the numbers under his breath.  
_21…22…23! _

"What?!" He frowned and put the registry book down, "That can't be.  
There's something wrong here. "

"What's wrong?" Floe asked from behind his shoulder.

Jumping in shock, Simon turned around, shutting the book. "Who…? Oh  
it's just you. Why are the two of you here?"

Floe scowled and shrugged, "I was interested. And we were here for the  
past five minutes already. So, what did you find? Your pet theory's  
wrong again right?"

"Actually, no. I just found solid evidence," Simon turned back to the book,  
flipping it to the dog-ear.

"Look. We have 22 people in class. There are 23 addresses on the  
register. It makes it difficult that I only have access to the list we wrote in  
at the start of term. So it's jumbled up and I can't tell which one is the  
extra. Still, there's something wrong here. Don't you agree?"

They looked at the book together. Thomas finally admitted, "Actually. That  
does look kind of strange. I know these three are ours. I know Sarah lives  
here. And I can recognize that these two over here belongs to Misa and  
Helen. "

Floe poked Thomas in the side, "You sure know where a lot of girls live. "

Simon watched Thomas retort playfully and turned back to the book. _I  
begin to suspect the worst. I wonder what they would say. _

* * *

"So, will you two help me check these?"

Floe huffed, "And why do we have to spend our time calling random  
houses? We'll get into trouble you know?"

Simon thought for a while, "But if you don't help me, we won't ever know  
what happened right?"

"I will at least. You want me to call these four and check whose house  
they are?" Thomas held up the slip of paper with the numbers.

Simon nodded, "Yes, it's to find out which address in the book doesn't  
belong here. "

"Floe, it will go faster if you help," Thomas hinted at her.

She scowled at him and looked away. Still scowling, she then snatched the  
paper out of Simon's hand and took out her mobile phone. Simon looked at  
Thomas, who shrugged nonchalantly.

They had it rounded down to 13 after taking out those addresses that they  
knew were real. _Time for the mystery to reveal itself. Who are you?  
Mysterious student? _

* * *

Simon looked at his list of five numbers and dialed the first one. _Except the  
ever-truant student hypothesis doesn't explain the chocolate. Maybe that was  
just a coincidence. _

"Yes, do you have a son enrolled in Eintein High? I would like to…"

Simon hung up from his next failed attempt. Floe frowned and put down  
her phone with shaking hands.

"What is it, Floe?" Thomas asked, a little concerned.

"I found it… it's this one," Floe pointed at an address with the phone  
number they had written on the list. Her voice was shaky though, as if  
something had frightened her.

Simon picked up the book and looked at the address. It was quite near his  
own house. _It supports the truant student theory. If that person came to  
school, they would have to take the same path as me. I would have seen  
them at least once. … What am I thinking about? If they came to school, I'll  
see them in class! _

Thomas patted her on the head, "There, there. Calm down. What's so  
scary about that?"

"The family doesn't have children. "

"If the couple doesn't have children, then why are they on the school  
register?" Simon replied for her, looking at the address. It was in a familiar  
location too. "Also, Mrs Limone and Mr Hayet are healthy and have been  
happily married for nearly twenty years already. Why don't they have  
children?" _There goes the truant student theory. That person doesn't even  
exist! But then how do you explain... _

He breathed a sigh of relief. _At least my fears are unfounded. _

"You know them?" Floe asked.

"Yeah, I do. I've been to their house a few times," Simon said.

Thomas looked at Floe's scared expression. "Perhaps we should  
investigate them. "


	4. No Solution

Simon rang the doorbell. Mrs Limone greeted them.

"Oh! How nice of you to visit! Do come in, you and your friends. "

Simon nodded his thanks. "It's a bit sudden to come at short notice but  
do you mind if we ask you some questions?"

Mrs Limone nodded, "Why don't we do that over tea?"

* * *

Thomas and Floe sat at the table sipping their tea silently. Simon had  
excused himself to go to the toilet and it was awkward talking to  
someone they didn't know.

"You two are his friends?" Mrs Limone asked in an attempt to start  
some conversation.

They nodded. There was a pause before Floe broke the tension.

She put on a small smile and said, "Why don't we get over this  
awkwardness. Simon has a bad habit of ignoring other people when he's  
interested in something. I'm Floe. He's Thomas. Nice to meet you, Mrs  
Limone, and thank you for your hospitality. "

Thomas and Mrs Limone laughed. "Yeah, he does have a tendency to do  
that. So what was it you wanted to ask?"

Thomas said for Floe, "You don't have any children do you?"

Mrs Limone shook her head, "No, we don't. "

"Why not?" Floe asked, quite untactfully.

"Floe…" Thomas chided her a little, seeing Mrs Limone's slightly pained  
expression.

"It's a personal question and I'll prefer if you don't ask further. "

Floe shrank back a bit and muttered an apology at Mrs Limone's  
annoyance. _Perhaps I stepped too far. _

There was a bump from the floor above them. They looked at the ceiling.  
A scraping sound followed. _What in the world is Simon doing? _

* * *

Simon pulled open the drawer in the desk. There was a full strip of sticker  
photos on top. He took the photos, looking at them in disbelief.

The door opened and Mrs Limone came in, Floe and Thomas right behind.  
The room was decorated with pink wall paper. A shelf of books was  
across the room from the chair and table right under the window. Simon  
currently sat in the chair staring at something on the table, oblivious to  
their presence.

Floe looked around at the rumpled bed and scattered stationery on the  
floor. _What had Simon been doing? _

"Simon? What are you doing?" Thomas asked him. "Oi! Listen!"

Simon looked up with a pale face. Before he could reply however, Mrs  
Limone sighed and shook her head, saying in a stern voice, "I don't recall  
giving you permission to mess up the spare room. Would you please ask  
before looking other people's belongings?"

Simon closed his eyes and looked as if he was about to say something.  
Instead he lowered his head and nodded apologetically. "Sorry for  
troubling you. We'll clear it up and return right away. "

* * *

Floe asked Simon as they waited at the door. "Why did you have to do  
that? It was very rude of you, you know? … Hey! Are you listening?!"

Mrs Limone had called Simon's mother and his parents were coming to pick  
him up. Floe didn't want to leave until she had got an explanation.

Thomas pulled her back, knowing Simon better than that, "Why don't you  
give him a chance to explain?"

Floe shrugged irritably, muttering to herself, "He could at least just tell us  
what's going on, instead of messing around with all this," she raised her  
voice again, "You know, it's this attitude that you have that makes other  
people hate you!"

Simon pulled out the roll of sticker photos from his pocket. "It's this. The  
next clue. But it's weird. "

Floe and Thomas looked at the photos. Floe asked, "What's so weird  
about them?"

"Two things. Why is a roll of sticker photos of me in Mrs Limone's drawer?  
Secondly, I never took sticker photos of myself. "

Simon's parents pulled up on the kerb and his dad gestured for him to get  
in. It seemed they were quite angry at him.

Floe watched the car go off down the slope to Simon's house. "He is right,  
you know? I find it weird that Simon would have taken sticker photos of  
himself. It's the kind of thing only couples do," Thomas commented.

"I wouldn't put it past him. He's weird enough as it is," Floe huffed her  
irritation at being chased out of Mrs Limone's house.

"Well, there's always tomorrow. It's late; I'll walk you to the station. "

* * *

_"Why do you always make trouble for other people? Can't you be more  
normal?"_

Simon sat on his bed looking at the roll of stickers. It wasn't nice getting  
scolded by his father but he had learnt to respond automatically while  
thinking about something else.

_There's more than those two things wrong with it. The photo is done on a  
flowery background which makes it useless for identification. You can't use  
this for official documents. And I would never use a flowery background this  
pink. _

_ And what's with that cheery expression on my face? Why would I be this  
happy to be taking a sticker photo?_

He frowned at it a bit longer. There was something else wrong with his  
pose in the photo. Not only was it too cheerful, the Simon in the photo  
seemed to be leaning a bit too much to the left. It wasn't centered either.

_Hmm…? If the me in the photo was leaning a bit more to the left, it would  
have been impossible to stay upright without support. _ He tried to copy the  
pose and nearly lost his balance. _Supporting strings? Why would I do that?_

* * *

He was still pondering the photos the next day in class, despite the heavy  
rain that poured outside. The class chattered away as the history professor  
droned on unaware of the class's lack of attention. It did seem to Simon  
that the whispering was less than usual but he paid such mundane matters  
no mind.

Someone smacked him on the back. Floe said cheerfully, in a vague attempt  
to cheer him up, "Hey, you had an entire night to think. Solved the case yet,  
Sherlock?"

Simon turned around as Thomas chided her gently, "That's a bit rude of you. "

"I haven't solved it. In fact, the photos are intractable. It isn't possible to  
take such a photo. Nor do I have any memory of taking it. From the back of  
the paper, it's from the photosticker machine in the Yard Mall. "

Floe shrugged, "But you haven't been to the Yard in the last month. "

He nodded. "It's an impossible puzzle. "

They blinked. Simon said a puzzle was impossible. That couldn't be right.  
"What do you mean?" Thomas asked, "It's not like you to give up like that…"

The bell chimed the end of class and the start of lunch. Simon got up from his  
seat, sighing, "But it's plainly impossible for such a thing to happen. Anyway,  
I'm going to buy lunch. I didn't wake up early enough to prepare sandwiches. "  
_There's no answer. Everything comes out as impossible. _

Floe looked at Thomas with some concern. It was unearthly behavior for Simon…

* * *

Author's Notes:

_Introducing final main character, the last clue and identity of missing person next chapter.  
_

_Also, Simon is not meant to be a like-able guy. Yet. _


	5. Last Piece Of The Puzzle

Notes:  
_Ok, its really short this time round, but that's because if I add in the explanation, its going to be a bit more than 1.5k.  
Simon... what a jerk. XD_

Note2:_  
Clarification, Tiriel's name partly came from a random generator and partly off the top of my head. A kind person has informed me that there is a Tiriel in the actual series who's existence I had forgotten about. Therefore, I would like to say that she has nothing to do with that OC. It is merely a coincidence. _

* * *

Simon drew his wallet and checked.  
_Yes, I have enough money…_

He looked again. There was one of the sticker photos in his wallet. _Huh?  
I don't recall putting one of those in there. _ He plucked it out and examined  
the back. Yes, it was one of the same set.

_But there wasn't…_ "Um… Simon?" A girl tapped his shoulder from behind.

He turned around. _Hmm..? _ "Uh, yes? What is it?"

She looked down and muttered softly, "Could we… … alone… ?"

Simon looked at her slight blush and the small bag she carried. Looked  
like there was a package in there. _She's giving me something  
embarrassing and wants to go somewhere we can be alone. _

"Ok, at the back gate then. "

* * *

Simon frowned. _This can't be a confession, can it? Since when have I  
actually done anything? _

"Um… I wanted to thank you for saving me from those thugs three days  
ago," She held out the wrapped package, blushing furiously.

His frown only deepened and he rubbed his forehead. "I don't remember  
saving anyone from thugs. And it's not like I'm fit enough to do so. "

"And uh… it's also for Valentine's Day. I wanted to give these chocolates  
early so you'll remember them!"

Simon froze. _Ah, it's the 13th today. I forgot. People give each other  
chocolate on Valentine's day._ He thought a bit more, quite oblivious to the  
trembling girl in front of him. _But the answer is impossible. Something like  
that happening is out of the question. No, it has to be! There is no mistake! _

"I have it, the answer!" he grinned at the girl whose name he didn't  
even know, "Thanks for your help. I'm really grateful. "

He turned around and took two steps away from the poor confused girl  
when something caught his collar. Floe yanked him back, saying roughly,  
"Are you some kind of jerk? Have a heart and answer her!"

Thomas walked around the corner, grinning apologetically, "She wanted  
to follow you. Who thought we would see you in such a situation!"

The girl backed away a little, saying, "Er… perhaps I better go. I'm  
interrupting. "

Floe grabbed her arm, "Oh no, you don't. Simon here will reply, now. "

"What are you saying, Floe?" Simon asked her, pulling free. Without  
waiting for a reply, he turned to the girl, "Can I ask a few questions?"

She nodded, still looking confused.

"What's your name?"

"Tiriel, class 1A. I-"

"When and where did I save you from those thugs you mentioned?"

"You don't remember? It was outside the Yard Mall. Er-"

"Were those people in a gang?"

"Yes. They were. What are…"

"As I thought. There is a way we can test this. Not everything can have  
disappeared. "

Floe smacked him, hard. There was a short silence as they all stared at  
her. "What's wrong with you? Asking these kinds of questions when  
Tiriel here is…"

Simon scowled back, "The answer is around the corner! I know who the  
missing person is! …" he turned Tiriel, "Sorry about that. But everything  
fits. There is a missing person in our class. She has gone missing since  
three days ago and all obvious trace of her existence has been  
destroyed. Our memories of her have deleted. It is the only answer. "

"And how is that answer to some game of yours more important than  
Tiriel's business here?" Floe asked him, holding up Tiriel's hand for  
emphasis.

Simon winced. _Sorry. _

"It is. Because… that missing person… is my girlfriend. "


	6. Explanation

"What?" Floe shook her head. "That can't be, you don't have a girlfriend.  
And the way you act now… no one would go out with you. "

Simon smiled, with a slightly faraway look in his eyes. It was slightly  
unsettling to watch him. "Yes, that is true. It is my hypothesis that I had  
a personality change as well. "

They stared at him as if he was crazy. It did look like he was crazy for a  
while, until Thomas broke the spell. "Er, how can that be? Would you  
explain?"

Simon squatted on the path, laying out stones to count out the number  
of points.

* * *

"The trail starts at the chairs in the classroom. One is empty where it  
should not be. The answer is simple. It was her chair.

Mrs Limone is her mother. That is why the school has their address. Why  
the address itself wasn't purged from the records was probably because  
the school has sent letters to them and it would be highly irregular to  
send letters to an address you don't know.

Then there is her room. Don't you think that pink wallpaper and a  
bookshelf are bit too much for a spare room? It looks more like a high  
school student's room.

The sticker photos are the main clue. It is true that these things are  
meaningless if you take them yourself. Most purchases of these would be  
couples looking for a photograph. The existence of me in a sticker photo is  
good evidence that not only I knew that person; I had a special connection  
to her. This likely also explains how I know Mrs Limone without being  
neighbours, relatives or having any sort of connection.

Note the flowered background. If you remember the pink wallpaper in her  
room, it is easy to conclude that that person is most likely female. From  
there, the conclusion that the missing person was my girlfriend is easy.

Furthermore, look closely at the photos. I'm smiling and seemingly leaning  
on something. The pose is simply not possible unless you're leaning or  
being supported by strings. I don't see why I would have setup something  
as deliberate as that. Of course, the problem disappears if I'm leaning on  
her shoulder.

The evidence that I underwent a personality change after the incident  
comes from two things. The first piece is my smile. I'm sure you know me  
well enough that I would not smile like that. The second piece explains  
the chocolate in my house. Valentine's day is tomorrow. I was going to  
give her those chocolates.

Everything is explained perfectly. We just need to test its truth. "

* * *

Simon paused for a while, noting that the three of them were staring  
at him.

* * *

"There are three tests we can do to confirm this. It is my hypothesis that  
I went to the Yard Mall with her, in the process taking the photo, helping  
Tiriel from the gang and buying the chocolate.

Therefore, we can test that. The first one is almost definite. I have a copy  
of the sticker photo in my wallet. But the strip of sticker photos in  
Mrs. Limone's house has none of them taken out. It implies that I have a  
copy of them myself. I can search my room easily.

Tiriel and saving her from the gang can be tested if the gang uses the  
Yard Mall as their normal hangout. It only takes Tiriel to confirm that they  
are there and them to remember I saved her.

The chocolate is the hardest. If I can find the receipt, it will have the date  
and shop details. But the receipt might have been destroyed or lost by  
now. "

* * *

Notes: _After this, there's a short bridge mostly made of characterization before the second arc. I'm taking a bit of break from rapid writing so there should be a slow down in chapter output.  
_

_The sticker photos early in Shakugan no Shana was the main inspiration for this story. Perhaps I am reading too much into something so trivial, but it bothered me that the photos themselves did not disappear. And there was a rather telling human sized gap between the two boys. _

_The second arc, while featuring some detective work, focuses mainly on Simon slowly finding out more about his unnamed girlfriend and recovering his past personality bit by bit. There's a gradual tone shift away from the running around playing detective to character development.  
_

_No, I have no intention of letting him recover his memory. I haven't even named his girlfriend yet..._


	7. Disagreements

Floe interrupted him with a cough, "You don't know that this is true.  
Everything is indirect. Nothing is certain. Why don't you stop playing the  
games now? How do you think Tiriel feels when you discuss a  
hypothetical girlfriend in front of her?!"

Simon looked at Tiriel. There was a hint of tears in her eyes. "Sorry, I'm  
not the kind of guy that saved you anymore. I don't even remember  
doing it so I'm not sure what your impression of me is. "

Tiriel turned around and took a few steps before his voice caught her  
again. He had thought of a more pressing problem, "Don't go. We have a  
bigger problem than that.

What force could possibly seemingly remove a person and all directly  
related memories? We're talking about large scale world-changing here.  
And why destroy her? There is a reason why my unknown girlfriend was  
removed from existence. If whatever is responsible for this happening  
gets wind of us doing this, we're done for. Anything able to so totally  
destroy people could easily make it so that we never existed.

I'm sorry, Tiriel, that we had to drag you into this. But you can't go now  
that you've heard. Try not to tell anyone, ok? You'll just widen the circle  
of targets. "

Floe tapped her foot irritably, "Us? I don't recall agreeing to that. Just  
what the hell are you talking about?"

Simon shrugged, "It's what I think is the truth. Or most likely to be the  
truth. We need to test it. "

"Like hell I am! You can't just go around saying we are being hunted by  
some underground organization that seems to have superpowers!?" Floe  
yelled at him, "What are we going to do?"

"Nothing unusual. It's just a hypothesis. Anyway, can all of you go check  
of the Yard Mall after school. I'll look at my house and join you afterward…"

"Why do we have to listen to you! I don't believe this! Don't just order  
people around!"

Simon frowned at her, a tinge of irritation creeping into his voice, "I'm sorry  
I stepped on the landmine that was this case. But now that it's blown, we  
have to get to the end of it. "

Floe opened her mouth but Thomas silenced her with a hand on the  
shoulder, "He is right, irritating though it is. Calm down, Floe. "

Simon looked at Floe, expecting her to retort. He had never managed to  
control Floe's outbursts before. Strangely enough, she quieted down. _  
Amazing, Thomas. _ "Now then…"

"You too, Simon," Thomas interrupted in a stern voice. Simon looked at him  
questioningly. "You need to learn people's limits. Frankly speaking, you  
have running around having fun with no consideration for other people. You  
barge into Mrs Limone's house and rummage around as if you're familiar  
with it. You ignore other people when they try to state their opinions and  
suggestions, expecting us to do things without regard for whether we want  
to or not. People are not pieces of a game in your own fantasy world. "

Simon was quite taken aback by the outburst. Not realizing how his actions  
affected other people was one of Simon's major irritants. "Fine, you don't  
have to help me. It is mostly my problem anyway," he replied, feeling a  
little miffed, "I only ask that you don't tell anyone else what this is about. "

He stalked off without waiting for a reply and Thomas let him go. _I guess I  
just have to do this alone. _

* * *

Simon left the class almost immediately after the bell rang, not wanting to  
face Thomas. _He'll come, I hope. He's always come. _ Anyway, there was the  
matter of testing the hypothesis. That was more important.

* * *

"Mom, where do you keep the plastic bags?"

"They're beneath the sink!"

Simon bent down and riffled through the stack. _Found it! A Yard Mall bag! _ He  
unfolded it and looked inside. The receipt wasn't there.

_But I always keep the receipt in the bag. It must have fallen out or something.  
I'll have to find the others then. _

He ran up to his room and dumped his school bag hurriedly, then paused. _  
Where would I keep sticker photos? It can't be somewhere obvious or I would  
have seen it already. _ He pulled out the drawers of his desk, not there. It  
wasn't in his stack of textbooks, nor wedged among his bookshelf.

_Where else can I keep some sticker photos? It's not like me to lose things. _

* * *

He had gone over the lot a few times when he decided to give up. Looking  
over the same few pieces of furniture wasn't going to help. _Why in the world  
would I hide something like sticker photos? _ He looked at the roll he got from  
Mrs Limone's house that he had put on his desk. _Where could I hide it  
anyway? _

_I'll just have to check out the bullies then, it's the last lead. _

* * *

Simon looked around at the lesser used entrance to the Yard Mall. It had  
lesser people and therefore more likely to have the gang hang out there.

_That could be them. _ There was a group of four rough looking youths chatting  
at the edge of the car park, smoking cigarettes and playing cards. _Too bad  
I forgot to ask Tiriel how many of them there were. I can just approach them  
cautiously, if it's not them, I don't want to get beaten up. _

"Er… excuse me, have I met you before? You look familiar," Simon ventured  
by way of introduction.

One of them stood up, towering over Simon. He assumed it was the  
ringleader. "Hey, it's the brat. Are you back for more? I told you last time  
that we let you off light. "

_It is them. They know me, but I don't know them. Now how to get out of this  
situation…_ "I'm not, just passing by. Hehe.. ha…"

He waved at them nervously and backed away. One of the others stood  
up and looked around, "Hey, we could have some fun today. Why don't  
we get him?"

Simon turned to run but they were too fast, the leader grabbed his  
shoulder and flung him to the ground. Soon he was lifted by all four limbs  
and carried out of the car park; struggling didn't seem to do any good. The  
thugs chatted and laughed as they hauled Simon's relatively smaller frame  
easily.

* * *

They dumped him down on the grass in the park, Simon watching them  
warily. He wasn't about to try running away from four larger boys.

"What are you going to do?" he asked timidly.

Chuckling to himself, the leader shrugged, "What are we going to do?"

"We could use him as a ball," one of them suggested.

"But he's puny, he'll break too fast. "

Simon looked at them arguing. _How can there be people this dumb? _  
Deciding to take the chance to run, he got up and sprinted as they yelled  
from behind him.


	8. Tracking Simon

Notes: _There's a time rewind here, this bit continues from where Simon leaves them during lunch. _

* * *

Floe gritted her teeth at Simon's retreating back. "What's with him and  
that high and mighty attitude?"

"Won't he get in trouble?" Tiriel asked worriedly, "He's going to  
investigate those bullies by himself. Even if what he's saying is rather  
far-fetched, that gang is at least real. "

Floe patted her on the head gently, "You've got to do something about  
that crush of yours. You're wasted on a boy like Simon. "

Tiriel scowled and blushed at the same time, with a rather bewildering  
effect, "Don't tease me, Simon was really cool, standing up to those  
bullies even though they had knives. "

She looked at Floe and Thomas, "Er… is something wrong?"

"They had knives?! Simon is going to get himself killed!" Floe chewed her  
lip in frustration, "Don't look at me like that, Thomas. I…"

Tiriel watched their exchange and smiled to herself. Simon might be  
irritating now, and he was too caught up in his dreams. _But, I am not  
going to lose to a fantasy girl. I'll get that Simon back! _

* * *

Thomas watched Simon run out of the classroom immediately after the  
bell rang. _He sure is eager to investigate something like this. Even though  
it's too dangerous. _

It wasn't that Thomas did not believe Simon. But searching for something  
that could so cleanly delete a person… He looked at the blank seat and  
shivered. If Simon hadn't pointed it out, Thomas was willing to wager  
that no one would have noticed that unknown girl's disappearance.  
Someone who could do that was better left alone.

"Hey, class is over. Shall we go?"

He looked up at Floe. "Do you think we should let Simon continue?"

She returned his questioning look, "What do you mean? He's just  
chasing after nothing. "

"It's not nothing," Thomas contradicted her, shaking his head, "Simon  
makes sense. There is someone missing here or there is something  
very wrong with us. "

She scowled at him, getting irritated. "I've had about enough of this  
detective game. What's with boys and adventure anyway? If we've all  
forgotten about this girl as Simon says, then just leave it alone. But no,  
he…"

Thomas cut her off gesturing at a chair for her to sit, "Just pretend for a  
while. Let's say we accept Simon is right. Then, whatever caused this girl  
to vanish must be quite powerful, right? If that person notices that Simon  
and us have realized this… we're quite done for. We could go the same  
way as that girl. "

Floe chewed her lip worriedly. 

_Yes, Floe. I'm worried too. _ "If those bullies  
injure Simon enough that he gives up this investigation, it might be  
better for us…" Thomas added.

"And you're going to leave him just like that?" Tiriel said incredulously.

They turned around to look at her standing in the doorway of the now  
empty classroom. "Simon just went out the school gate. I'm sure he's  
going to go the Yard Mall. If those four bullies are there, he'll get injured! "

Floe stood up, "I'll go with you. Thomas, you can stay if you want. "

"We shouldn't stay around Simon and his investigation," He pleaded,  
getting up as well, "It's dangerous, I explained. Please, Floe, I'm worried.  
Don't go. "

She considered him for a while before smiling, "It's sweet of you. But,  
sorry, I won't leave a friend in danger. That's why we're friends right?  
I'll still help even if I disagree with him. "

Thomas took a long look at the two girls walking out of the classroom.

"I guess I'll come too, then. "

* * *

They sat at the bench watching the four youths across the carpark,  
Thomas frowning with impatience.

"Are you sure it's them?"

"I am. Even if they are wearing different clothes. It is those four that  
Simon is looking for. "

Tiriel rocked on her heels, squatting on the ground. She had changed  
position several times already and Floe was at her limit.

"Tiriel, why don't you go buy a drink? It won't do you good to wait here  
all agitated. At least it's something to do. "

She looked up and nodded at Floe's suggestion. "What do you two  
want?"

Thomas shrugged, "Anything cold will do. Running out here and now  
having to wait…" He took out a 5 dollar note from his pocket, "Here, get  
all of ours with this. "

Tiriel waved her hands, "No, it's all right, really. I can pay for my own. "

"I insist. Go buy all the drinks with that. Don't forget the change though. "

He shooed her off.

Floe looked at him side-on, "You sure are good at this sort of thing. "

"Heh. As if I'ld be defeated in this sort of social contest by a girl. "

Floe scowled, "That isn't very reassuring. I'm a girl too, in case you  
forgot. "

Thomas grinned back. _She picked it up, as expected. _ Teasing Floe could be  
such fun. "I wouldn't try that on you. Not after seeing that smack you  
gave Simon…"

* * *

Tiriel walked back, carrying the drinks in a bag. She still felt guilty about  
paying for her own. _Stupid, why should I feel guilty about paying for my own  
drink…_

As she neared the bench, she saw Floe and Thomas sitting on the  
opposite ends facing away from each other. She approached Floe.

"I got the drinks. Did something happen?"

Floe didn't respond, oddly enough. Tiriel thought she saw her cheeks  
turn a little red.

"Er…" Tiriel wasn't quite sure how to deal with this sort of atmosphere.  
Especially not after that chocolate… _Never mind that! _ She looked around. _  
I wonder what Simon would do? Look around for clues I guess. _

_Judging from how they act, I guess something embarrassing happened. But  
they were getting along so well. _ She looked at the bench, noting that their  
schoolbags had been shifted into the middle of the bench. _Something  
happened regarding their relationship. She's hesitant or… _ "Did Thomas do  
something to do you, Floe?"

Tiriel watched with interest as Floe's cheeks quite literally turned cherry  
red. Thomas snorted from his side and turned around, with a broad grin.  
"I told you, Floe. Tiriel can read people better than Simon; you'll have to  
be more careful around her. Well, you see, Tiriel, we had a little argument  
that ended up with… mmph!"

Floe covered his mouth with her hand, saying in a dangerous tone, "No,  
you do not. Thomas, I am warning you…"

Tiriel burst out laughing, "It's ok. I'm sure you two will be fine. More  
importantly…" She turned back to the four bullies. Who weren't there.

"Where did they go?"

Thomas dropped his mirth and looked at the spot they had been watching  
for the last hour. The bullies were quite clearly absent.

"Eek… while we weren't paying attention!" Floe scrambled up, taking her  
bag with her, "Simon must have found them! They weren't going to leave  
suddenly in the middle of a game of spades…"

Thomas nodded in agreement, "Let's go see what we can find. Perhaps  
we could do a little detective work ourselves. No reason why Simon can  
do it and we can't. "

* * *

Notes: _More characterization and less action in this chapter. I don't think I do comedy very well... =/_


	9. Friends

Thomas crouched over the pile of cards haphazardly left on the asphalt.  
There were a few cigarette butts and a button on the ground as well. _  
What would Simon make of this? _ The cards are scattered towards the  
center of the carpark, but they couldn't have gone that way.

"I can't make heads or tails of anything. How does Simon do it?" He  
complained to himself.

Floe pointed at the row of bushes behind him, "You might want to look  
further afield. " The bushes on the edge of the carpark had a conspicuous  
hole through it, with snapped twigs and leaves scattered over the ground.

"It's in the direction of the park!" Tiriel took off, running quickly.

* * *

The leader dropped Simon's wallet, after taking what money he had.  
Thomas watched as he stamped on it, getting the soil all over the cover. _I  
guess I should have thought this through a bit more. _

"That's them, and Simon's being held by that guy over here. If I remember,  
he and that leader guy are the ones with knives. " Tiriel pointed them out  
for Thomas.

Floe scrambled forward, "I'm not letting this go anymore. "

Thomas tried to grab her arm and missed. _If she just walks in, they'll…_

True enough, he and Tiriel watched as the bullies simply laughed at Floe.  
They couldn't hear the conversation at this distance from behind the  
bushes, but it was turning bad fast.

"What do we do? Floe will end up…" Tiriel asked him worriedly.

Thomas looked around; there was no one around the park at this time. _  
Which must be the reason they chose to come here. _ "If only we had a  
whistle or something. "

Tiriel gasped and looked around the grass.

"What is it?" Thomas asked.

"There, two long pieces of grass," Tiriel plucked them and put them  
together and blew hard. Some tries later and a piercing whistle sounded  
from the vibrating leaves.

The bullies paused in their intimidation and looked around. _ They won't  
leave unless they think someone is coming. I know! _

He waded through the bushes towards the group making as much noise  
as he could and sure enough, they left hurriedly, leaving Floe and Simon in  
the clearing. Thomas hopped back out of the brush and by the time he got  
there, Tiriel was already dusting Simon off.

* * *

"Haha! That was some trick!" Floe laughed as Tiriel explained the whistle,  
"For a while I really thought you somehow managed to get the police  
here. "

Thomas caught up and looked at Floe. "I'm fine, Thomas. They didn't do  
more than growl a bit. "

Simon shook off the dirt and sighed, "I thought you guys weren't going to  
follow me? We had an argument if I remember correctly. Or was that some  
elaborate joke?"

Tiriel smiled at his confusion, Simon could be hilarious in his absolute  
seriousness. Floe answered, "You read too much into things. We're friends  
right? We won't leave you alone, even if you will just walk off by yourself. "

"Well, we're lucky nothing serious happened. Even though your wallet  
needs some cleaning. You only lost some coins right?" Thomas asked.  
When Simon nodded, he continued, "That's good. Why don't we go collect  
our bags and go to Simon's house? He can tell us what he found. "

* * *

"Where did you learn to do that with the grass anyway, Tiriel?" Simon  
asked, "It's not something people would know normally. "

Tiriel thought as they climbed the stairs to Simon's room, "I don't really  
remember, but I learnt that on the school trip that climbed Mount  
Kashima. "

"That one?" Thomas commented, "It was a combined lower secondary trip  
only three months ago. I don't remember them teaching anything like that. "

She shrugged, "I don't remember that trip very well. Though I do know my  
group didn't have either of you. "

Simon waved them into his room, "Of course, I would have remembered  
you if I saw you before. The groups were only 6 people though, so it's not  
that surprising.  
In any case, the bullies are the first concrete evidence that something is  
very wrong. I do not remember them at all, but they remember me trying  
to save Tiriel and so does Tiriel recognize them. And this happened only  
three days ago. Me not having any memory of going to the Yard Mall is  
very worrying. "

He gestured to indicate he was finished. Thomas asked, "What about the  
chocolate and sticker photos?"

"I wasn't able to find the receipt and there's no trace of sticker photos in  
my room. I've searched all over for them but I can't find it. "

Floe shook her head and sighed, "Just think of where you'ld hide  
something embarrassing and they'll be there. "

Simon frowned with confusion, "But there's no reason to hide them. "

There was no answer, strangely enough. He thought for a while, "hmm…  
why would I hide photos of me and my girlfriend? Say, Thomas, if you  
took pictures with Floe and had to put them in this room where…"

Tiriel bit down a giggle as Thomas looked out of the window, as if to say  
"I'm not listening". Floe also seemed to be rather interested a loose thread  
in Simon's blanket. Tiriel giggled some more as she saw Simon's confused  
look, "Simon. You can be so thickheaded sometimes. That wasn't a question  
you should have asked. We'll just help you look over the room again, shall  
we?"

"Yes. Good idea, let's do that!" Thomas nodded and gestured behind the  
table, asking for permission to move it.

Simon frowned again as he watched Floe look under his bed, "Hey, what  
did I do? Did I say something wrong? Oi!"


	10. Simon's Explanation, Again

Notes: _Early update of the longest chapter yet, will be taking a break until exams are over. Around next week. _

* * *

Tiriel found it in the gap behind the cupboard. "It's here. You really did hide  
it. "

Simon looked at the things. The receipt for the photos, two copies from the  
Yard Mall. A book on chocolate shaping and a roll of the same sticker  
photos with the first one taken out. And the receipt for both the chocolate  
and the book on chocolate.

Floe nudged Simon suggestively, "Ho… you were even going to make the  
chocolate for her! "

Simon nodded, "There is no doubt now, right? Everything revolves around  
the disappeared girl. "

He was quite surprised when Floe pouted and complained with a  
mischievous tone, "It's no fun teasing you, there's no response at all. "

"Well, then," Thomas cut in, "The game's over, you've got the solution and  
proof. Are we going to the police with this?"

Simon shook his head, "No. They won't believe us. The proof we have is  
only inconvertible to me, who knows myself and the victim very well, and  
you guys, who know me well. To anyone else, it looks like we're playing  
games. "

They stared at him before Floe shrugged, "Whoever thought Simon would  
admit other people think his schemes are stupid? I guess we can go back  
to being normal middle school students if we're stuck. After all, Tiriel here  
has to be better than this forgotten girlfriend right?"

Tiriel shot her a Look, while Simon considered his options. "No. What we  
need is more proof. "

Thomas rolled his eyes, "We don't need more proof. Floe was right when  
she said you should stop playing these games. There are things that we,  
as 14 year old children, should not be playing around in. "

Tiriel looked a little intimidated at the somewhat harsh critic of Simon's  
actions, though she said nothing. Floe picked up on it and nodded to  
Thomas, "I need to talk to you outside. "

Thomas looked at Tiriel and reluctantly agreed after seeing her expression. _  
She must feel like we're excluding her by our familiarity with each other. _ He  
and Floe left the room to the two of them.

* * *

Simon looked at them leaving. _I don't understand why Thomas would  
suddenly change his mind. He was agreeing with me when we argued. Now  
he's saying I'm playing a game…_

"Um… Simon?" Tiriel began timidly, "You know them very well right?"

Simon nodded, "Yes, of course. They've been my friends since primary  
school. "

They settled into an uncomfortable silence for a while. The muffled  
sounds of Floe talking fast came through the door.

"Do you really have to investigate this?" Tiriel asked, still hesitant.

Simon frowned at her. He had never thought about that, if anything  
seemed wrong, then he would investigate. It had always been second  
nature to him. "Er… I don't know. I suppose I don't have to. It troubles  
you that I'm investigating this?"

Tiriel nodded, "I don't want to lie. Why would you go so far for this  
disappeared girl? Can I ask? Do you still love her, even if you don't  
remember her?"

Simon shrugged, "Who knows? Does anyone really understand all their  
own motivations?"

Tiriel considered it for a while before smiling, "Ok then. It doesn't matter.  
You should go look for her. " Simon failed to pick up on her slightly forced  
tone and frowned in confusion.

* * *

"So what did you want to say?" Thomas asked, feeling a little peeved. He  
knew Floe was giving Tiriel a chance to talk, but he didn't like her  
supporting the investigation.

She rounded on him, "Why do you say these things? Someone has made  
to disappear, from everyone's memory and all records! It's a grand case  
of murder! How do you just let this go?!"

"Wait… do you realize what you're saying?" Thomas held up a hand to  
stem the flow, "You want us to go up against these guys who did this?!"

She paused for a while, "We can't just let something like this go. Would  
you stop investigations just because of danger if I was the one who  
disappeared?"

Thomas winced. "You fight dirty," he muttered after a while, a hint of a  
smile on his face, "I wouldn't drag other people into this danger though. "

"And yet…" Floe paused, looking at the door to Simon's room. Tiriel's voice  
floated out, a little muffled by the door, "…It doesn't matter. You should  
go look for her. "

"That idiot," she muttered under her breath and opened the door,  
"What are you saying Tiriel? I thought you didn't…"

Tiriel looked at her in surprise and Simon turned around to say, "Oh,  
you're done? That's good. We can go…"

Thomas held up a hand, "Wait.. everyone stop talking at the time!"

He waited until there was silence. "All right, first things first. Floe, you're  
just confused. You want me to stop saying we shouldn't investigate but  
want Tiriel to stop saying we should. Make up your mind whether you  
want us to investigate this or not. "

Floe frowned and looked a little confused, "Yeah, I guess I was a bit…  
confused. I'm not sure why. "

Thomas waved her down and continued, "More importantly, Simon. I must  
advise against investigating this case. Think about it. You said it before;  
it's dangerous for us to possibly anger something with so much influence.  
It wiped our memories for goodness sake! If whoever did this found out  
about us, we're dead!"

* * *

Simon sighed and walked over to his window, taking his time to explain.

"Floe just demonstrated exactly why I think it's not dangerous. I've been  
thinking about it ever since I stopped Tiriel from leaving with that excuse.

Remember the pieces of evidence. They were the empty seat, class  
register, the girl's room, sticker photos, valentine's chocolate and the  
bullies. There is one thing in common with all of them. They're all indirect  
evidence. All direct evidence that this girl existed is gone.

Why has only our memories and direct evidence vanished? If you were  
the person concealing this girl's disappearance you would at least take  
away those photos right? The existence of the photos is the major clue  
that my deduction hinged on. And if they could wipe all our memories at  
the same time and modify all the records, why not take out her address  
as well? And steal the letters sent by the school? They're certainly  
powerful and far-reaching enough.

If you were directing this operation, you would not leave these things  
behind. It just means that people close to her would suspect something  
wrong.

The answer to these questions is this: There is a rule that governs which  
evidence disappears. They take away her picture, but they do not take  
away the frame. They take my memory of the Yard Mall visit, but they do  
not take Tiriel's memory of the bullying. I have forgotten about buying and  
hiding this book, but the book itself is not gone.

This is where Floe comes in. She has her memories of this girl taken. But  
it left her confused as to whether we should continue with this or not.  
Floe, why you can't decide whether to search for this girl is probably due  
to a contradiction caused by the removal of your memory. Exactly how it  
works, I can't tell. Even you might not understand your own motivation  
behind this.

My conclusion is this. There is no 'They'. There is no organization behind  
the mass altering of reality. If it was done by any form of intelligence, the  
evidence I have now would not exist. Her disappearance from reality and  
the destroying of direct evidence is the result of a Natural Law, without a  
guiding intelligence.

We do not have to fear anything noticing us doing this investigation. The  
'anything' doesn't exist. What we need to find out as soon as possible is  
the event that caused her disappearance. That is what we need to fear. "

* * *

Notes: _End of characterization bridge. The second arc can now start with more detective work now that Simon's convinced his friends to help him. If at this point, you disagree with any part of Simon's logic, do please review and point it out. _

_Especially if you think he's making a conclusion with too little evidence. I can't really tell since I know everything already... =.=  
_


	11. The Paper Trail

There was a silence in the room for some time after Simon finished. "I  
might be wrong. We might all die from investigating this. But I know she  
existed. I know I was a different person. I want to find out who she was,  
and how I was like.

Even if it means apologizing to Mrs. Limone. The next step is convincing her  
of this. "

Thomas opened his mouth to protest but Tiriel spoke first, "I understand. If  
it is important to you that you do this, go ahead. Though, you shouldn't  
need a reason to apologize to Mrs. Limone. You should have done that from  
the start. It's these things that make you irritating to others. "

Floe smiled, "Whoever thought Simon would make a noble speech? Keep  
improving and you might even get some friends. "

Simon looked at them with a little wonder. "Don't look like that," Floe said,  
"Just go ahead and do your investigation. "

He nodded wordlessly.

As they left, Thomas frowned to himself. _He could be wrong. He wasn't  
certain. There is a risk..._

* * *

Simon rang the bell to Mrs. Limone's house, not without some trepidation.

"Why did you come back?" She asked when she opened the door and saw  
the four of them again.

"I wanted to apologize for my inexcusable behaviour yesterday. Perhaps  
you would accept a gift in apology and an explanation?" He asked smoothly,  
having made up a short speech on the way.

Mrs. Limone narrowed her eyes and held the door open for them.

Floe nudged him, "Can't you look a little more apologetic? You don't sound  
like you're really apologizing. "

* * *

Simon unfolded the envelope of 'evidence' and began explaining. It took a  
long while and she wasn't convinced. He did give her the chocolate as a  
gift though.

"That can't be, I don't have a daughter. "

"But don't you see that this is the only explanation?" Floe pleaded with her.

Simon shook his head, "Never mind, I'm sorry to have bothered you again.  
But just to make sure to yourself, can you go check the place where you  
keep your family's passports personal documents? I'm sure you'll find  
three. "

Mrs. Limone frowned even deeper, "Don't kid me around with games like  
that. I don't have the time to play these things. "

"Please?" Simon pushed a little, "It won't take five minutes. And if I am  
wrong, I'll drop the whole idea. "

There was a pregnant pause, if Mrs. Limone said no… Simon didn't want to  
get caught for stealing; it would make explaining difficult.

She nodded and they breathed a collective sigh of relief. "I'll look, but you  
don't touch anything. "

* * *

Mrs. Limone opened the cupboard and immediately, Simon saw it. There, on  
the bottom shelf, was three slim red books. _There, that's it. Three passports. _

There was a stunned silence as he bent down to examine them. Mrs.  
Limone's and Mr. Hayet's he gave back, but the last one was completely  
blank. No photo, no name. Even the travel stamps were gone.

"It's not possible to get one of these you know? And I'm fairly sure you  
don't have any memory of forging passport, Mrs. Limone. There should be  
more blank documents, like birth certificates. "

Mrs. Limone nodded, still recovering from her shock. They dug around a bit  
more and it rapidly became clear there would be no more clues to her  
identity.

"So close! Yet so far!" Floe complained as they gathered all the documents,  
"We have her birth certificate, no name, no parent's signature, but the  
hospital stamp is embossed on it. School application confirmation, no name,  
no class, no teacher's signature. Immunization records, no name, no  
doctor's signature. What good is knowing she had hepatitis vaccination?  
I want to know her name!"

Simon shook his head, "It is good. With this, we can ask the police to  
release government documents by tracing these. Most of these have dates  
and the issuer. We can chase the paper trail down. It is the first solid,  
unshakeable proof that she existed. "

Mrs. Limone looked at them, "You already knew. I… I'm sorry for doubting  
you. This is…"

Tiriel nodded, "We understand. I hope Simon does too. It was expected  
that you would doubt us. "

Simon watched with mild interest as a tear trickled down Mrs. Limone's  
cheek, not picking up the hint even with his friends surreptitiously looking  
away.

"I... I'm sorry. It's just that I've always wanted a daughter. For more than  
ten years. And now she appears in front of me, with these… papers. And I  
don't even remember…" Tiriel touched her on the arm, trying to offer  
comfort as she broke down completely.

"Why don't we go to the living room? You could do with a drink," Tiriel said,  
shooting a look at Simon that said _stay out of this_.

* * *

_What would you do if you suddenly discovered your kid had disappeared just like that?_

_I chose to interpret her name as "direct evidence". As with fingerprints and DNA samples.  
_

Note:

_Simon gets more evidence. And this time, it's rock solid. Can't argue with a passport. __It's only because it would break continuity that I'm having to steer the story so they don't report it.  
_

_That was a problem I had with Shakugan no Shana. Hirai should have a passport at the minimum. Even if her picture disappears from that, a passport, genuine in all ways except that it's blank, turns up out of nowhere. Add in the rest of the stuff a normal person has, like competition certificates, doctor's letters, bank accounts (now it has no name stuck to it... I wonder what happens?) and well... it's weird in the extreme. __  
_

_Especially when the stuff start adding up. If Thomas wouldn't prevent the "Secret" from leaking next chapter, they would have found quite a disturbing net. More than enough to convince a Court Of Law, I'm sure.  
_

_Things like: _

_1) The blank passport's serial number is registered as used in the government directory. _

_2) The passport matches the scan the bank took when the no-name account was opened.  
_

_3) Blank birth certificate was used to register the passport. _

_4) Hospital has a copy of the blank birth certificate and Mrs. Limone's mother was registered in the maternity ward on the birth date given. _

_5) Child support exemption in tax forms for her father's income? He would have paid more tax if he didn't have a child. And he used to register 1. Now she's gone..._

_Lots more, eventually they uncover things like handphone subscription fees being paid out of the no-name account and school fees paid from her father's account and...  
_

_Gah, watching Detective Conan has been getting to me lately. XD One wonders what would have happened if Yuji managed to convince Hirai's mother and find her passport. Reporting missing people would get the authorities into an uproar. Especially when they find the extreme number of "holes" in the government database. _

_It's not going to happen in this story, I'm just going off on a hypothetical rant._

_--- Come to think of it, this might be exactly the "disturbing the fabric of reality" thing that Shana comes up with to explain the existence of Torches. Unexplained stuff is caused by a Torch's disappearance, and on the surface, it looks all right. But when you look at it closely, it's only a flawed sewing of the 'hole' caused by the loss of Existence. _

_--- Perhaps Tuners get rid of these "evidence", but then what about the case of the child, as shown below?  
_

_I shudder to think what might happen if they lost in the 1st arc. The WHOLE CITY vanishing into thin air? I very much doubt that would go unnoticed for very long, even if everyone's memories were wiped.  
_

_A hypothetical question: What happens if a mother is eaten but the child isn't? No mother = no child. So her husband is going to be asking where this kid came from and why he keeps thinking it's his kid. Major contradiction error. Does the child disappear too?  
_


	12. What Does She Look Like?

Note: _Term 2 just started, so I'll be shifting to a weekly update instead of 1 per three days. There's only 3-5 chapters left by my estimation anyway. _

* * *

Thomas changed the subject in the uncomfortable silence that was left  
behind, "At least, we shouldn't report this. If we go to the police, all  
pretense at secrecy is lost. If, just if, you are wrong, and someone is  
responsible, we will have just killed ourselves and Mrs. Limone. Feel like  
betting our lives on whether you're right? "

"I… well, I could be wrong. We could all die but…" Truthfully, Simon was  
glad for the chance to discuss something else. He hadn't expected Mrs.  
Limone to react like that and it wasn't exactly comfortable. "No, I guess  
you're right. If we report this and I'm wrong, we all die. If I'm right, we'll  
just get more useless blank papers with no name and signature. If we  
want to find out more, it'll have to come from her room. "

Floe smacked her palm, "That's it! No doubt she'll have a secret corner  
just like you did! That would have more things about her there…"

* * *

Tiriel helped the woman into the living room chair, "What would you like?  
I'll make it for you. "

Mrs. Limone sniffed, wiping away the traces of tears with a tissue, "Sorry  
about that. Could you get me a glass of juice? Feel free to have one  
yourself. "

Tiriel poured out the glasses in silence and brought them to the table.  
There wasn't much she could say, but she could listen. Mrs. Limone would  
feel better if she talked about it.

"It's a bit confusing, I always felt as if someone was missing. Do you  
know what happened to her and why we don't remember?"

Tiriel shook her head, "Sorry, we don't recall anything, and it is likely no  
one does. "

"What do you know of her? I suppose you must have uncovered  
something. "

"We know almost nothing actually. Except that she was in Simon's class  
and was his girlfriend. "

Mrs. Limone raised an eyebrow, "Simon's girlfriend? I… I guess I have to  
apologize to him, no wonder he was so persistent…"

"Actually, he doesn't remember either. He's investigating only because he  
wants to. "

There was a sound of steps on the stairs and Simon popped his head into  
the living room, "Excuse me, but I thought I should ask before poking  
around in the room again. Can we go search in… well, her room?"

Mrs. Limone nodded and Simon went back up the stairs again, she and  
Tiriel watching him. "I wonder why my daughter would even date him. He's  
not exactly the most agreeable person. "

Tiriel fidgeted in her seat, "He wasn't like that certainly. He was… must have  
been very noble when he tried to fight off a bunch of bullies single-handedly.  
I remember him defending me, your daughter must have been there from  
what we've gleaned, but I don't remember her. "

There was a silence as Tiriel waited for a response and Mrs. Limone waited  
for her to continue. Tiriel caved in first.

"Despite how he behaves… he has his good points. "

Mrs. Limone nodded and smiled at Tiriel, "I suppose he does. "

Tiriel got the distinct feeling that Mrs. Limone knew more about her  
relationship with Simon than she let on, but she didn't get a chance to reply.  
Simon's voice drifted from the room, tinged with excitement, "A clue! There's  
actually a message, for me!"

* * *

Floe frowned and read the words again, they didn't make much sense.  
"_…seems to be ignoring me. Only the place under this tree brings me any  
peace now. I wonder why this is happening to me?_ "

"The reverse side has a date on it, but is otherwise blank. The date there is  
one day after my Yard Mall visit. I think it's a page out of a diary. It's the last  
page she wrote. Judging from the crease marks and the tear on the side, I  
think she was angry about something and tore it out," Simon rubbed his chin  
thoughtfully, the line didn't make much sense either to him though. _Which tree  
is she talking about? _

* * *

Thomas sighed, Simon had the tendency to get all excited so quickly. Going to  
the toilet, he passed by a hairdressing stand. _Hmm…? Why does Mrs. Limone  
have a brown-tinged hair gel? She has black hair…_

It wasn't until he was finished and on the way back before it struck him. _It  
must have been her hair gel. I'll ask Mrs. Limone. _ He entered the girl's room  
and found Tiriel and Mrs. Limone had joined in. Holding up the tube of gel, he  
asked, "Mrs. Limone, is this yours? It doesn't match your colour. "

Mrs. Limone shook her head, "Is that one of hers? My husband doesn't use  
hair gel. Neither do I. "

Scowling, Thomas shrugged it off, "I guess it's just me who finds useless  
things, what does a bottle of hair gel tell us?"

"That's great Thomas, and we've our first inkling of what she looks like!"  
Simon reassured him, "Hair long enough to use hair gel, and probably brown  
hair of approximately that colour. "

"That's only probably. I might use that shade of brown myself seeing as I have  
black hair," Floe pointed out, "Although girls don't usually use hair gel. "

Tiriel stayed silent, having nothing to contribute. She looked around the room  
aimlessly, after having given up on deciding what the message meant. _Heh,  
what am I doing? Helping find out about Simon's ex-girlfriend who we don't  
remember and is probably dead…_ But if Simon wanted it, then she would help.

"Hey, isn't the bed a bit small?" She asked, noticing something, "Thomas, do  
you mind lying down on it? Just to compare lengths. "

They looked over. "Hmm… I'm not sure, it looks slightly smaller than mine,"  
Thomas said before trying. His feet just hit the edge. "Well, it's just too  
short for me. Which means she was shorter than me. "

Floe shrugged, "Doesn't mean much. You're the tallest in class…"

They all looked at Simon, expecting him to say something. "What? I agree.  
It doesn't mean much," Simon replied, "Shall we look again? Maybe there's  
something we missed. "

Mrs. Limone went to the door, "Well, just try not to mess the place up too  
much. Shall I get you all some tea?"

"Yes, please. "

* * *

Note: _If you can think of any other indirect way that a person's looks/description can be revealed, feel free to suggest. _

_I felt it would be beneficial to put my interpretation of the mechanic here: (the bits that are more or less canon are in normal font)  
_

- Only direct evidence of a Torch will disappear. _  
---Direct evidence = Memories, Photos, Names (so far, I haven't had to include anything else)_

- Normal people don't notice the indirect evidence as they just wave it off. _  
---This is just human nature and not anything supernatural. _  
--- _The fact that Simon can't ignore it is about the only thing making him the protagonist. _

- _Indirect evidence is a distortion. When Tuning, only the evidence the Tuner knows about will vanish, everything else stays put. _This justifies using a person who knows the town well  
--- _Aside from evidence vanishing, Tuners can also make memories wipe again. _  
--- _Digging up those evidence and making people recognize the contradiction **worsens** the distortion. (This is what Simon is doing)_


	13. Feeding Strays

Note: _Early but short update_

* * *

After about an hour, Simon finally gave up. "We can't find anything else.  
Except that she liked pencils maybe. "

"I think it's because we don't know what we want to find," Tiriel pointed  
out, "Each time before, you always had a good idea of what we should  
expect. Now you're just casting aimlessly searching this room over and  
over. "

Simon considered it for a while. "All right, we'll look for descriptions of her.  
And what sort of person she was. "

They stared at him. "Isn't that impossible?" Floe complained, "We can't  
tell what sort of person she was without our memories and descriptions  
are impossible without a photo. "

Mrs. Limone suggested, "If you're looking for her data, I'm sure the school  
has health records. I request to see them if they still think I have a child  
registered. "

"Oh, nice idea. Shall we do that tomorrow? It's getting late. "

* * *

Simon walked home, puzzling over the sheet of paper out of the girl's  
diary. _Exactly what did she mean? _ Floe had insisted she was going to  
take the sheet so Simon was forced to copy it out. _She has been  
collecting all the evidence so far. I wonder what does she do with it?_

_Considering that was the last entry, whatever incident that caused her to  
disappear must have happened during that day, one day after the Yard  
Mall visit. So she was being ignored by someone she wasn't expecting.  
There's a tree that she likes sit under and is attached to. And something  
she doesn't understand is happening to her. _

_If we can find the tree, we can understand her much better. Or at least  
get an idea of what she considers important. _

He took the walk through the playground as he always did… _or more like  
always did when I came back from her house. I don't use this route  
anymore but it's familiar._ There was a meow and something brushed  
against his leg.

Simon looked at the cat rubbing its head against his leg. _Huh? What's this? _  
He bent down to examine it and the cat looked back expectantly.

"Aren't you going to feed it? You've left it for a few days already, how  
irresponsible. "

He turned around and saw an old woman was talking to him. "Er… what?  
I forgot…"

"Sigh, youths these days. Play and feed stray cats until they're familiar and  
then just dump them. You forgot, what an excuse. "

Simon frowned. He didn't remember feeding cats. "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't have  
any cat food on me now. Maybe I'll give it a snack. "

He pulled out a roll of chocolate wafers he was intending to save for a snack  
later. Giving a few to the cat wouldn't hurt, especially if he could persuade  
the woman to clarify…

"What are you doing! Chocolate?! You'll make it sick! I thought you of all  
people would know what not to feed a cat!" The woman waved at the  
packet, seemingly quite furious.

He didn't know how to respond. _Why is this woman so angry? Maybe I  
knew her? _ "Do I know you? I don't remember seeing you before. "

"What are you talking about? You used to come here every few days to feed  
this cat. I was around most of the time watching you. Surely you couldn't  
have missed me. "

_Wait… I don't remember doing that. And this playground is on the way from  
that girl's house to mine. I remember the route, but I don't remember  
feeding the cat. Why? This has something to do with her disappearing. _

"Hello? You listening?"

"Sorry, I need to investigate this a bit!" He apologized as he ran back to  
Mrs. Limone's house, ignoring the woman's curious inquiry. _I'm sure it'll be  
there. _

* * *

Mrs. Limone was rather surprised at seeing him turning up again out of  
breath, she let him in though. After some poking around in the cupboards  
in the kitchen, he eventually located it. _Six cans of cat food. And  
Mrs. Limone doesn't own a cat. Found you! _

"She fed strays, I see," Mrs. Limone shrugged, "She must have been a  
rather nice girl. "

Simon smiled to himself. _This is more like it, compared to wandering  
around in her room aimlessly. _ He nodded to Mrs. Limone and took up his  
bag to go.

"Well, then, I'm amazed at what you've all discovered, but my husband  
will be back soon and I need to cook dinner. "

He nodded again at the implied 'go away' and looked back at the cans. _  
Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to feed the cat after all. _

_

* * *

_

Note: _The reason for Mrs. Limone's seeming detachment from her disappeared child is that although it was her child, she doesn't remember her and doesn't have the same sort of attachment one would have to a living person. _

_The cat bit is supposed to show that the girl is actually a kind person. And meant to develop Simon a bit more. XD He wouldn't feed cats at the start of the story, now would he? Comments on how to make this better are appreciated.  
_


	14. Tuner

Notes: _People ignore Fuzetsus, that's canon. What isn't is my interpretation of how they ignore it, I thought that it would be stupid to allow people to think of the area but not able to see inside it. People notice when they suddenly can't see a large portion of the city. Therefore there has to be an attention deflector on it. Like the Somebody Else's Problem Field that Hitchhiker's Guide had. _

_Too bad that Simon knows how to counter one of those. _

_You can't say that time inside speeds up so fast that the battle is over before anyone outside can react. In the series, characters outside the field have managed to enter and join the battle. _

* * *

"You actually fed the cat?" Floe said incredulously, "It's not like you to do  
that. "

Simon shrugged, "Why not? I mean she fed the cat with me, right?"

They looked at each other in silence for a moment. _Is Simon regaining his  
memory? He might stop being so obsessed about the investigation._

Thomas pulled Floe and Tiriel away from Simon and said in a low tone, "It's  
good that he's becoming more normal. Perhaps we should leave it alone.  
It'll be better for you, Tiriel. "

As Floe nodded in agreement readily, Tiriel had to be persuaded however,  
"Isn't that like him regaining his memories?"

"I don't think so; he would be telling us all about it if he remembered  
something. "

There was no question that if anyone was to regain memories, it would be  
Simon. Tiriel continued to waver but agreed reluctantly after some time.

"So what was that about?" Simon asked as they returned. Floe began to  
make up an answer but Thomas interrupted smoothly, "We'll go check out  
the nurse with Mrs. Limone after she comes in afterschool. Would you take  
Tiriel and go find the tree that was mentioned in the diary?"

There was quite a large consideration at Thomas's suggestion. Tiriel  
understood almost immediately and scowled at Thomas, who winked back.  
"What's up with that look?" Simon asked, when he noticed Tiriel and Floe  
looking a little embarrassed.

"If you don't get it, you'll won't even if we explain," Floe replied and  
gestured for them to disperse, the bell for start of class was ringing, "You'll  
better go back, Tiriel, class is starting. "

* * *

"What was that about?" Simon asked Tiriel as he joined her at the school  
gate.

"Ignore Thomas, even though he is right in that we'll find more things if we  
split up," Tiriel explained, feeling a little guilty at support the division. _It's  
not because of Simon!_

As the two went out the school gate, the shadow on the roof of the building  
watched them leave. _They feel normal, Tomogara can't possibly want to go  
to human school. So why is there a distortion following them?_

There were two more fainter ones in the building. _This has to be investigated,  
whatever happens, it's a distortion, and it needs Tuning. _

"It's only a small one. Slightly more than one Torch. Outlaw gave you an  
assignment, this is not it. "

The shadow hesitated, and explained, "It's grown rapidly over the last two  
days. I'll Tune it and leave immediately. I'll only be a little late for the  
appointment. "

There was more silence as Simon and Tiriel walked down the street. _Firstly, I  
need to tell if they know the truth. A test at the center of the web then, if  
they're responsible, they'll feel it. _

* * *

"If we can find the diary, we'll have all the information we could possibly  
find. Maybe there'll even be more links and evidence! And it starts with that  
tree, the diary is going to be there, I just know it. "

Tiriel looked at the satellite picture of the town blankly, letting Simon  
chatter on. It had become sort of a background noise to her, it was nice to  
listen to it even though Simon thinking aloud was too fast for her to follow.

"I've marked six points in town where there's only one tree around.  
Surprisingly, there wasn't too many spots, after all, you can't rest at a  
road intersection of something. "

"Let's go then," she said, pointing to one spot at the graveyard, circled in  
bright blue ink.

Simon looked crestfallen, "That's the problem, the six spots are all over town.  
It'll take us all day just to look at even two of them. Plus, I'm not sure what  
I'm supposed to find there. "

Scanning the map wasn't going to do much good. _If Simon can't spot the  
right tree, I have much less chances. Where would you go? _ "I think these  
two are good choices, there's one isolated one at the riverbank and the other  
is the graveyard one. "

* * *

The shadow looked around the base of the tree. "You could set up the  
tuning pillar here. One will be enough for something this small. "

There was some movement in the shade of the tree and the shadow plunged a  
large shining metal pillar into the ground. _There, that'll be the bait. _ The sky  
grew dark as the Fuzetsu spread its red tint over the small area around the  
tree. _Come. _

* * *

Simon looked over the map, "Two of them? Where's the first one?"

"What do you mean? There are six points right? One. Two. Three. Four. Five.  
See? The first one is the graveyard, right?"

He frowned at Tiriel. _Something's wrong with that statement, but I don't  
know what. _ "Is it just me or did you think there was something wrong with  
what you just said?"

"Eh? Er…" She thought for a while, "It does sound kind of strange, but look,  
there's the six points on the map. The graveyard is the most likely one, so  
let's go there first!"

The map had six points, Simon was sure of that. He looked at it again. _One.  
Two. Three. Four. Five. Five points. I thought I found six in a rough circle  
around the department store last night. I'm sure of it. _

He stopped Tiriel in confusion, "Something's wrong. I'm missing something  
here. "

Tiriel backed up, they had learnt that Simon's intuition was very accurate  
sometimes. "What is wrong? The map?"

She looked at the six blue dots. _True, I did say there were two likely spots,  
but there's only the graveyard. _ "I did say there were two spots right? But  
there's only the graveyard that could be likely. "

"Let's go sit down over there, I'm not letting this defeat me. " Simon had  
already connected this to the girl's disappearance. _ We're having the same  
kind of mental block as we have with our memories of the girl. The position  
of one tree is hidden from us. I. Will. Find. It._

* * *

The shadow was about to give up and go find a local to tune the area. _If  
there hasn't been any change in the last fifteen minutes, they don't know.  
I have better things to do than worry about normal people. _

A flash went through its senses, the distortion jumped and danced before  
stabilizing, a ratchet higher than it was before. The shadow stood up and  
smiled. _A threat I see. I'll defeat them here. _ And settled down to wait again.

* * *

Simon crouched over the map, with his ruler measuring distances over the  
impromptu grid he had drawn. _If our attention is being deflected from the  
tree, I can pinpoint its location. Measure the distance of the side of each  
square containing one object and compare that number with the row  
above. If we're ignoring an object, the affected rows will be shorter. _

"Got it!" Tiriel shouted with glee, "Over here! The river is too short on one  
side!"

Simon nodded and drew in a finer grid. "28cm on this row, but 29 above  
and below it. The heights are 17 here and 18 on either side. That's it. That  
square contains our tree. "

As they went to get their bikes that they had borrowed from a rental store,  
Simon's hand phone rang. He was lucky that his mother had agreed to  
letting him borrow it to do this, she still thought he was playing with his  
friends.

"Yes, Floe? You found her entry?"

"Mrs. Limone here, actually. Thomas found it. There isn't much but at least  
we know she was actually underweight. And short too. "

"Oh! Mrs. Limone! Sorry about that, me and Tiriel found the tree that was  
mentioned in her diary. Could you ask Floe and Thomas to come to the  
corner of Bridge Street?"

* * *

_They're coming, the four kids that are at the center of the distortion. _ The  
shadow examined the impromptu scanning spell arrayed in front of it. _They  
aren't Tomogaras either, what is going on?_

"Even an Unrestricted Spell can be fooled by a skilled Tomogara. Be on your  
guard. "

The shadow nodded in agreement.

* * *

Notes: _This is probably the second to last chapter. There may or may not be an epilogue depending on whether I feel the story needs one. _


	15. Meeting

Notes:

_I am going to rewrite the ending after all. I just can't leave it alone where there's a better idea... =P_

* * *

Simon led the group of four down the riverbank. "It should be right here, by  
this bend. "

They looked around futilely. "I don't see it, not even on the satellite map,"  
Tiriel complained, the printed sheets of the black and white views of the  
town whipping in the wind.

Simon had drawn a large cross on the paper, after finding that he couldn't  
see the cross if he placed it right on top of the invisible area. "So where  
along this rows of houses do you see a single tree?" Thomas nudged Simon  
suggestively, knowing he was going to be the one to come up with it.

There was a pause as Simon looked at the surroundings, comparing it with  
the map.

* * *

The distortion jumped and twitched as Simon scanned the area, it wasn't  
settling down with the source this close. As the children discussed it,  
Khamsin focused on the one called Simon, ignoring the girl frozen at the  
edge of the Fuzetsu. He was at the center of this distortion and it was  
growing quickly.

_A normal human. Who is creating distortions. I wonder how? At least with  
this at the center of the web, he won't find it. _

* * *

Simon looked at the building on the other side of the river, "We're standing  
right in front of the tree," he concluded, "we're directly on the other side  
of the river from the blind spot. "

Thomas was about to take a step forward but Simon caught his sleeve,  
"Where did Floe go to?"

The two of them looked at Simon in confusion for a moment before horror  
spread across their faces.

* * *

He watched as the boy approach the Fuzetsu slowly, not seeing the frozen  
girl almost in front of him. Simon was watching the boy closely and Khamsin  
saw Simon gesturing as the boy entered the Fuzetsu and froze as well. _  
They've noticed. It's that boy, Simon, he's the one increasing the distortion. _

Khamsin stood up, there was no point maintaining the Fuzetsu anymore, if  
Simon couldn't see through it by now, there was no chance he would be a  
threat.

* * *

Thomas scrambled up the grassy slope, looking as closely as he could.  
There was something weird about the gap between the two houses, but he  
couldn't quite put his finger on it. _No matter, where the weirdness is, the  
answer will be. _

He took a step forward and there was a flicker. Floe suddenly appeared in  
front of Thomas and he stepped right into her, sending them to the ground  
in a heap.

"Ah! Ow!" Floe shook her head as they got up painfully, the stones on the  
riverbank were quite hard.

Simon helped them up and Thomas jerked around in surprise. "Eh? I thought  
you were down by the river?"

"We have better things to worry about," was Tiriel's reply, pointing at the  
young tanned boy standing in front of them. There was a burnished metal  
pillar in the shade of a large tree wedged in the gap between the adjacent  
houses' walls that followed the curved riverbank.

They looked at the boy examining them in silence, both sides weighing the  
other. Simon smiled and took a step forward with a hand outstretched, as if  
talking to a lost kid. Tiriel pulled him back, "Don't go near him. I can't tell for  
sure, but he's not just some lost primary school student. "

Floe glanced sideways, not taking her eyes off the boy, who still hadn't  
moved, "How do you know that?"

"His eyes and posture. I… I don't know, he just doesn't act like a…"

The boy interrupted, with a far more serious voice than any primary school  
kid should have, "Are you the cause of this? There is something I need to  
tell you. What you are doing is dangerous. "

* * *

Notes:

_One of chapter after this, and one more epilogue._

_Thanks to "123 a-z" 's review, what seems like a copy-paste bug has been corrected.  
_


	16. Final Explanation

Notes:

_Oh my, I managed to fit deduction in. Still, one wonders what happens if someone important got eaten. Like say the President of America. Too many documents, process and checks will go off immediately. Hmm....  
_

* * *

"And what happens if this Distortion gets too big?" Simon asked unsteadily.

Khamsin shrugged, "Depends. You could fracture space-time and destroy  
the city if it was big enough. Though I doubt that would happen in your  
case. "

"Why are you telling us all this?" Thomas interjected, "Aren't we in your  
way?"

There was a long pause before a voice spoke out of the air, "You are the  
people who know about this Distortion, for us to remove it, one of you  
needs to guide the process. "

They considered it. "Do you mean to say that you can't remove these  
things without knowing about them?" Simon asked.

"Yes," Khasim held out a slim unmarked book, a few clods of fresh dirt  
stuck to the cover and even a small worm. The hole in the ground beside  
the tree marked where the girl had buried her diary. He continued, "If I  
Tuned it now, all that would disappear is your memories and this book.  
Unless you help me, not all the evidence will disappear. "

More silence ensued from this revelation. _We'll lose our memories of this.  
Was it all in vain? _ Thomas took the diary from Khamsin and opened it;  
there was the place where the girl tore out the page.

"_Simon saved me from a bunch of bullies yesterday, but he didn't even  
listen to me when I went to thank him in class. I wonder why. My  
teacher also didn't listen when I tried to answer the question he asked. _

_ Still, at least that annoying boy who keeps pestering me has stopped.  
There might be some good to my newfound invisibility after all. I'll __continue  
this after school, lunch break is almost over._

_Why!! I tried to buy a snack but the shopkeeper ignores me. No matter  
how I shout or jump, he doesn't say anything! I even pushed over a row  
of milk cartons on the shelf in frustration. Guess what? The shop  
attendants just started cleaning up, as if they couldn't see me! Ah… I  
resorted to violence to attract some attention. Forgive me, please? I'm  
sorry already. _

_ But I even tried deliberately walking into my mother, but she just got up  
and went on cooking… maybe this is a retribution for all the bad things I've  
done. Is it? At least you are still around, dear diary. You won't leave me. _

_ I want to say goodbye to Simon, before I disappear completely. I just went  
to his house. Sneaking out at night is too easy now. But he ignores me. I can  
cover his eyes and he'll keep on working. Why… Please, whoever is doing this,  
just let me speak to him!_

_ But there's no chance of that right? I can't get anyone to do it. Everyone  
seems to be ignoring me. Only the place under this tree brings me any peace  
now. I wonder why this is happening to me? _"

"What a cruel end," Tiriel murmured, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the girl's  
confusion.

"That must have been the last day," Khamsin commented, still stoically logical,  
"It's a common occurrence when Torches are about to disappear. "

Floe put her hands on her hips, "I don't like how you're treating this. Do you  
think we'll cooperate? You apparently don't care anything about people who  
died without even knowing what killed them! Why should we help you erase  
what memories we have of her?"

"It's the rule. Looking for people who, in a sense, never existed causes errors  
in the fabric of reality. It is these Distortions that I am here to heal. She's  
dead already, give up and leave her in peace."

"He's right. We can't be chasing shadows forever. "

"Simon?!" Floe turned around, surprised.

His face was obscured by the shadow of his cap, but Floe could tell from his  
tone that Simon was forcing himself to say it, "Even though… even though  
we are doing what we can to remember her, to find out about her, it won't  
bring dead people back. And with time, the evidence will disappear, as people  
erode them with corrections and new memories. Doesn't that happen to all of  
us eventually?"

Thomas and Floe looked uncomfortable; Simon waxing philosophical was quite  
a new thing. Khamsin observed, still distant and apart from them.

"Rather than dig up the past, we should look for ways to prevent this from  
happening to others. I will help with the Tuning, since I figured out all the  
evidence, they'll all disappear. Let's just get on with our lives. "

Floe stared, "What are you saying?! Didn't you just…" she paused as she  
noticed the tears in his eyes. _He knows something that makes him say this. _

Tiriel jumped as Floe nodded after the silence, "All right, I give in. Can you  
leave it till midnight? I just want to finish reading her diary. "

They looked at Khamsin, who nodded wordlessly. Floe sighed in relief. _It'll  
work, I know it will, Simon has shown me the path of his deduction. _ She took  
the diary with her as they left, her hopeful feelings contrasting with the  
downcast atmosphere that Simon projected. _Just you wait, Simon. _

* * *

Midnight came, Simon showed up alone. Khamsin went forward to meet him,  
"Why did you change your mind? Are you planning something?"

"How could I? If I left any evidence, it would merely be erased. After all, I  
can't very well lay evidence that I know about. "

Khamsin nodded, "Go on. "

"Given that you obviously know much more of this situation, and assuming  
that you did not lie, there is no other conclusion than that you can easily  
stop our attempts, or at least seriously hinder it.

You managed to tell that there was a Distortion as you call it. Which means  
that you are able to track our progress in uncovering this evidence.  
Furthermore, you can Tune it, possibly using that metal pillar over there,  
such that we lose our memories and evidence you know about disappears.  
With just these two, and that you do not want us to uncover the truth  
means we cannot possibly do it. You can undo in moments what took us the  
best of three days' effort to uncover.

Furthermore, you obviously have something to do with Tiriel disappearing and  
our inability to remember a location. I found this place through that trick you  
used. What's more, the fact that both Thomas and Tiriel were equally  
surprised about seeing this tree and you means that when they entered the  
area, they didn't see what was in it. "

Khamsin raised an eyebrow, again. The boy was full of surprises.

"Add that to the fact that they appeared practically on top of each other,  
means that Tiriel stopped moving when she entered it, and so did Thomas. It  
was lucky that they chose the same spot to do so, but it might be due to the  
ease of climbing up the slope over there.

Therefore, that area is a time-stop area. You can freeze time inside it. More  
evidence is in the book. You handed it to me with fresh dirt and a worm on it,  
which quickly fell off. That means that you just dug it up. Yet you are not  
exhausted by the exertion, which means you did it some time ago. The time  
field explains this.

Furthermore, you were inside the area when it turned off. Assuming you were  
responsible for turning it off, means you can act inside such a field. Against a  
time-stop attention-deflecting field, large scale memory wiping and ability to  
track our progress, we stand no chance at all. In fact, if we persisted in our  
investigation, it wouldn't be too difficult for you to erase us much like how  
that girl disappeared.

You mentioned Torches disappearing, that confirms the phenomenon to be  
due to a natural consequence of an event, not an active malicious act. But  
who turns people into Torches? I was pretty sure she started out human.

I can only ascribe these seemingly magical powers to one who already has  
others. You, who call yourself a Tuner, are responsible for this. Or other  
people like you.

Why then should I risk my friends' lives to find more statistics about a girl  
who was essentially a stranger to me? I'd much rather cooperate with your  
scheme and hope you leave us alone. We are not worth the effort of killing  
if we do as you say. "

Khamsin took a deep breath. _Too bad their memories will have to go. He  
would have made a good detective for Outlaw. _ "It's five past, we'll start,"  
He turned to examine the Tuning pillar again as Simon scrambled down the  
slope.


	17. Epilogue

Khamsin crouched on the roof of the school as the bell sounded the end  
of class, watching the four of them walking out of the school. _Just in  
case, Simon is smart enough that I'm sure he must have had a way to  
get around it. _

"It's impossible, once you Tune the Distortion, they lose their memories  
permanently. "

Khamsin nodded in agreement, but he couldn't shake the feeling.

* * *

"So where do we go? It's Friday!" Floe asked them.

Simon smiled at her enthusiasm, it was always refreshing to watch Floe  
and her upbeat mood.

"Why're you so happy?" Thomas asked, curious.

"Don't ask about things that don't overly concern you, Thomas," Simon  
commented, with a wink at Tiriel. Who smiled back shyly. _She must be  
feeling out of place, a 1st year among 2nd years. When was I such good  
friends with a younger girl anyway?_

"The amusement park sounds good. Let's go there and have a nice day  
out!"

* * *

"See? They're perfectly normal, if a little different than they were before.  
You have another assignment, let's go. "

Khamsin stood up, no point worrying about things that were past. _Simon  
was such a waste, if only Outlaw had less strict recruitment policies. _

Ten hours later, he was on a plane out of the country.

* * *

**One week later…**

"Mail!"

Floe went to the door sleepily, "Parcel post on a Saturday morning?"

The parcel was a unmarked brown packet, with no return address. It  
seemed to be quite full of paper though and it was addressed to her. _  
Who'd send me this? _

She went upstairs and tossed it on her bed and went down to the  
kitchen, she could look at it after breakfast.

* * *

_To myself:_

_ If you are reading this and don't know what this is about, then my plan  
has succeeded. I have successfully sent a message past the Tuning  
event. _

_ Firstly, there's a mole on the inside of your upper left thigh. And really,  
you actually like Thomas. You're blushing right? I hope that proves I'm  
you. _

_ Enclosed is a series of documents and pictures that is the evidence of a  
missing person investigation that Simon dug up. Each of them has notes  
that explain their significance and under what circumstances we found  
them. _

_ What is more important is that supernatural events have been afoot.  
There are people called Tuners who can remove these evidences if they  
know about them and Simon helped them Tune away the original copies.  
These ones are a number of high quality photocopies that I made, the  
receipt is enclosed, if you doubt my account, then go ask the printing  
shop about the transaction. _

_ Please satisfy yourself with the evidence that the only explanation was  
the one that we came up with. And that this is not an elaborate joke, the  
clear watermarks on the pages should be proof enough that they are  
copies of genuine documents. _

_ Hand these documents to Simon and see what he makes of them. I can  
only hope I included enough to ensure that it convinces him. Go to the  
police to check the passport number if you wish, the Tuner should have  
left town by the time this package arrives, this was the reason why I  
sent such an important package by snail mail. _

_ ._

_Floe_

_ ._

_PS: However you're going to deny it, you like Thomas. Please be nicer to  
him. Good luck. _

_

* * *

_

Notes:

_And that's it. The very final end. You see here, this was essentially Simon's plan. If he left it to someone else to pass on the information, he wouldn't know about it and thus wouldn't be able to Tune it away. _

_The important bit he didn't mention is that Khamsin took a long time to find out they were Distorting the place, which meant that he (at least) can't feel it until he's near the town. Which means that if you wait until Khamsin is quite a long way away before relearning the evidence, you can avoid him noticing the Distortion coming back. _

_Thus the trick with the snail mail and letting the Postal system delay the packet for you. Leaving it around the house might mean that you could accidentally find it too early. _

_Also note the way their personalities changed a bit.  
_


End file.
